Adrian Monk, Captain Leland Stottlemeyer and others in “Mr. Monk Goes to the Circus”

A leopard and panther wrangler.

Yep, he works with the leopards and the panthers, and he's got a .454 Ruger Casull handgun, which he says he can't find.

He had the hots for the horse trainer the vic was seeing. And get this - he's a trapeze artist wannabe. He's been practicing. They say he's pretty good. [Randy takes a sip of his coffee]

And that's how we spell primary suspect.

Hmm. He's left-handed.

Well, yeah, he works in the circus.

What's that supposed to mean?

They're freaks. They're all ambidextrous.

Says who?

Circus people are ambidextrous. I read that somewhere.

I like the ex-wife. You should have seen her. She's cold as ice.

Cold as ice with a broken foot.

She's got a bad temper.

A bad temper with a broken foot.

You keep coming back to the foot!

Monk, the killer did a somersault, and then ran away in front of witnesses.

That's precisely why I think it's her. Why else would the killer jump around like that in front of witnesses? [Sharona suddenly grabs his bottle of Sierra Springs] There's only one reason - to prove... [Monk looks stunned as Sharona takes a big swig from his bottle]...prove that she couldn't. [She places it firmly back in his hand with a loud sigh of satisfaction, then wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. She glares at him]

Suck it up!

Are you guys all right?

Yeah, we're fine.

Fine.

Okay, as I was saying, she has a broken foot.

It's in a cast. We don't know if it's really broken.

We haven't exactly been sleeping here, Monk. Lieutenant?

[glances at his notepad] Her story checks out. She broke her left foot two weeks ago in Kansas City. [enter black and white flashback as Randy voices over] She always ended the show with something she called the triple tailspin. [We see Natasia doing her tailspin, but she fails to grab the next performer's legs and falls to the ground] You know, it's her specialty move. Anyway, she, uh, missed the bar or something and fell 25 feet [She hits the ground, writhing in pain, terrifying the crowd], in front of 750 pretty freaked out people.

Ahem. She missed the net?

She never used a net.

She go to the hospital?

No, she's a Romani gypsy. They don't believe in doctors. She set the bone herself.

So she never saw a doctor, which means a doctor never saw her. Captain.

All right, Monk. Lieutenant, see if our Queen of the Sky will consent to an X-ray.

Fine. [walks out of the room, visibly unhappy at Monk]

Thank you.

You're welcome. [Monk offers his bottle of Sierra Springs over to Sharona, who just glares at him]

You want to finish it? [Stottlemeyer walks up to the, and takes the offered bottle Monk is still holding out with a sarcastic face to Sharona]

You know, when Karen and I were having trouble last year, we went to a marriage counselor, a guy named Mosely. Decent guy. He didn't help us much, but I'm sure Karen has the number if you'd like it.

We're not married, and if we ever get married, shoot me!

You know who you should never marry? The Elephant Man!

I'd marry the Elephant Man before I married you!